Recent Supreme Court decision restricts patent owners' ability to limit resell, repair, and replace

In Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International, Inc., the Supreme Court held that Lexmark could not use the patent laws to enforce the contractual conditions it placed on the sale of its cartridges. Under the doctrine of “patent exhaustion,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote, once a patent holder sells an item, it can no longer control the item through the patent laws: “The purchaser and all subsequent owners are free to use or resell the product just like any other item of personal property, without fear of an infringement lawsuit."

-----

In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas.  He also co-founded Project K, a charity devoted to changing the world one random act of kindness at a time.  Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer.